Recovery effort helps

Tornado recovery means more than just clean up for many Oklahomans. The recovery effort has led to jobs for some Oklahomans through a grant from the U.S. Department of Labors, Employment and Training.

These temporary jobs are available to dislocated Oklahomans and those who lost jobs due to the May tornadoes. Others for whom jobs are available include displaced workers who are not receiving income support and individuals who have been unemployed for fifteen weeks or more.

In addition to assisting those displaced or unemployed Oklahomans, the grant also assists others affected by the storms because these Oklahomans assist with clean up efforts in five counties: Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma and Pottawatomie counties.

With the assistance of these workers, a substantial amount of clean up has been completed in Shawnee, according to James Bryce, director of operations.

Belcher Road clean up from Highway 102 to Lake Dam No. 1 has been completed, Bryce said. He added that the efforts have been moved to Independence Street from Highway 102 east to Steelman Estates.

After that segment is completed, Bryce said he intends to focus efforts on Lake Road and Patterson Road.